At Brighton, our focus is on applied research which makes a real difference to people's lives. Where appropriate, much of this research is conducted in collaboration with our neighbouring communities to foster shared learning and benefit from 'real world' input.
Working in this way enables us to form 'communities of practice' which are groups of people from academic and non-academic situations who have a common interest in a particular field. Our areas of expertise include health, families, older people, disabilities, LGBT, black and minority ethnic communities.
By its very nature, our work starts at a local level. But due to the success of some of the models we have developed, these are now being used in many other parts of the world.
Local projects
Our community knowledge exchange activities bring together the knowledge of local communities, voluntary organisations, practitioners and university academics to share their different understandings and perspectives on issues of common interest. The university is involved with several local projects organised and administered through the community university partnership program.
On our doorsteps
On our doorsteps strengthens the university’s connection with small community projects within the immediate locality of the University of Brighton buildings. Find out more about On our doorsteps.
On our doorsteps is currently involved in six local projects
Eastbourne Local Food Initiative
The initiative is currently developing the green spaces in and around the Darley road campus (Eastbourne) to provide ongoing seasonal food cultivation. The project will provide opportunities for local community organisations, particularly the elderly to cultivate the space and benefit from shared skills in food cultivation with the university’s culinary arts studio.
Rother and Hastings LGBT Project
The project aims to improve the lives of the LGBT community in Hastings and Rother by promoting strategic networks between the community itself, the university, service providers and employers to encourage greater awareness of LGBT issues.
Community Town Planning
The project aims to stimulate community involvement in Hastings town planning issues by promoting both local information access and by providing a hub for shared information and practice to improve town planning in the Hastings and St Leonards area.
Commemoration Project
The project focuses on the anniversary of the India Gateway at Brighton Pavilion and will provide an opportunity for the School of Humanities and the Brighton and Hove Black History community group to share learning and benefit from inter-practitioner exchange.
Growing Local Food
The project is designed to support Harvest Brighton and Hove a local community action group in their work promoting access and awareness to local, seasonal and ethical food in the Brighton and Hove area. The project will provide workshops, demonstrations of cookery techniques and help with planning and promotion of events to encourage the use of local food.
Triangle Community Group Project
A collaboration between the residents and workers of the Brighton triangle, an area between Lewes Road, Upper Lewes Road and Union Road. The project is designed to put forward ideas to improve the physical environment of the area by providing access for local residents and workers to benefit from the expertise of the university’s architecture department.
South East Coastal Communities
South East Coastal Communities is a recently completed project which, in partnership with the Universities of Chichester and Sussex, produced four significant communities of practice:
- lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual
- young people and families
- disability
- older people
The four communities of practice were met by operating four local projects:
Count Me in Too
The Count Me in Too Project aims to provide community-led research designed to help improve access to services and promote positive changes for LGBT people. You can find out more information about the Count Me in Too project on the community university partnership programme website or watch Kath Brown explain the project:
Bouncing Back
Bouncing back is a project run in conjunction with local practitioners, parents and the university’s school of nursing and midwifery to expand the use of Resilient Therapy in a practical setting to encourage local disadvantaged children to ‘bounce back’ when life is particularly tough.
Our Space
Our Space is a local project run in partnership with local NHS practitioners, experts in community therapy and deaf service providers to provide a meeting place for local deaf and hard of hearing community members to meet.
Activity Buddies
The Activity Buddies project aimed to enhance older people’s confidence, health and wellbeing through partnering with university students and staff. The project was organised around six strands all designed to improve local older people’s knowledge of medications, general fitness, creative activities and to provide a manner for older persons to remain active both mentally and physically in their post-retirement years.
Find out more about the South East Coastal Communities project.
Other local projects
Beyond the projects covered by the ‘On our doorsteps’ or South East Coastal Communities programmes, the university is involved in a variety of other local partnerships and projects, some of which have arisen through the work of the community helpdesk – the university’s point of entry for community interaction. Visit the community helpdesk.
Growing Together
The Growing Together project strove to put the findings of the international journal of public health into practice, namely that gardening promotes strong mental and physical health amongst elderly communities. The project is currently in pilot with Eastbourne Homes, a housing provider to the elderly community of Eastbourne and Age Concern to study the impact of the introduction of gardening projects to the elderly community. You can find out more about the Growing Together project.
A2a (Access to Arts) Rockets
A2a Rockets is on ongoing project run at the Phoenix Arts Association in Brighton designed to integrate artists with learning difficulties into the wider arts community. The project enables these artists to benefit from access to the university’s resources and the support and advice provided by the university’s students and faculty. You can find out more about the Rocket’s project or find information on other university Access to Art programmes.
You can search the community projects on the community university partnership programme website.
International projects
The community university partnership programme at Brighton is supporting a number of other universities to produce their own community engagement programmes.
Senegal – employability and entrepreneurship
The university is now working in partnership with the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar (UCAD) and the department of applied economics at Suffolk University’s Dakar campus (SUDC) to design and pilot a six month post-graduate certificate in community engagement in employability and entrepreneurship. This programme is designed to assist students graduating from both universities who are currently unable to find employment. Find out more about the collaborative partnership.
Bosnia, Rwanda – constructing community identity
Working initially in Bosnia, the community partnership programme was introduced at the University of Mostar to develop student engagement with the local community and thereby help develop a shared civil identity in a society which had suffered historically from years of conflict. The program was a success with the university’s engineering department as a notable example designing adapted artificial limbs for local community groups, the success of the programme has led to the university exploring options in Rwanda to develop a similar project.
Israel and Ireland – Football for Peace
Developed by the partnership programme and the university’s School of Sport and Service Management. Football for Peace originated in 2001 in Israel as a means to bring together Jewish, Christian and Arab communities and their children through the shared enjoyment of sport and football. The programme is ongoing and is now in its ninth year of operation having expanded to the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland helping to bring together communities again through the shared enjoyment of sport. Find out more about Football for Peace.
Find out more
If you would like to find out more about our community university partnership programme please visit the community university partnership programme website or contact the community helpdesk for advice and information or to discuss any ideas you may have.
You can also search the community projects on the community university partnership programme website.
